Compressed-air water-elevator



(No Model.)

s.W. TITUS. COMPRYESSED AIR WATER ELEVATOR. No. 546,038. Patented Sept. 1,0, 1895K.

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SILAS W. TITUS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

COMPRESSED-AIR WATER-ELEVATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 546,038, dated September 10, 1895. Application filed January 25, 1895A. Serial No. 536.213. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, SILAS W. Tiros, a citizen of the United States, `residing at Brooklyn, county of Kings, State of New York, have invented certain new-and useful Improvements in Compressed-Air WaterElevators, of which the following is a full, clear, and eX- act description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for ef fecting the elevation and discharge at the ground-level of water from a subterranean source in which compressedair is injected into the column of water in an eduction-tube, the intake of which is sunk in the water-bearing strata or source, and-parts of my invention relate particularly to apparatus, as aforesaid, which is employed for the purpose stated in connection with wells in which the water rises by natural pressure in the eduction-tube to or near the ground-level or has a natural flow thereat.

The general object of my invention is the provision of means whereby the maximum iow attainable from a well to which the apparatus is applied may be obtained and conserved; and to this end my invention comprises the provision of means which, while they will enable an immediately available and uninterrupted discharge of water fromV the eduction-tube to be obtained when the compressed air is initially injected into the water-column thereof, will also readily permit the adjustment of the air-outlet of the compressed-air supply-pipe, relatively to the body of said water-column, to secure the most effective application of the air to the water for the purposes of elevation, and will also provide for the rigid support of a screen or strainer, independently of the intake of said eduction-tube, in the open end of said intake, and removably therefrom without disturbance thereof or said eduction-tube; and my invention also comprises the provision of means which, in the case of wells having a natural flow or in which the water naturally rises to or near the ground-level, will operate to prevent the freezing of the well in cold weather during such times as its `enforced A"of a section of said tube or casing extending above and in open communication with the ground-surface end thereof and beyond a discharge-spout therein, an apertured plug closing the upward end of saideXtension-section,

astufting-box and gland in the aperture of said plug, andv a clamp-collar Aon said gland, together with a compressed-air supply-pipe adaptedto have longitudinal play in said-plug and to seat in said stuffing-box and collar and to reach longitudinally Within said tube or casing, a rigid extension on said air-pipe below the air-outlet thereof adapted to reach to the lower end of the intake of the tube or casing, and a screen or strainer lixed on the free end of said pipe extension and adapted to fit loosely within said well-tube and its intake and to stand in the `open lower end of said intake; and my invention also includes the combina tion, withy the well tube or casing provided with avalved vent immediately below the line of the natural water-level of the well therein, of a compressed-air supply-pipe having longitudinal adjustability within said tube or casing and provided with a removable valved vent-pipe communicating with'said air-pipe at the aforesaid natural water-level and entending adjustably therein longitudinally of the well-tube through the wallv of said well-tube.

Figure lillustrates in vertical central sectional elevation an apparatus containing my invention and shows the saine in position in a well,and Fig; 2 illustrates in front elevation a detail of the apparatus containing a part of my invention;

In the apparatus illustrated the well tube or casing is composed of the usual tube-sections A A, adapted to be driven into the wellbore in the customary manner and to be united endwise in the fashion ordinarily ernployed. At A is shown the intake-section of the casing, the same being in the well-known form, having longitudinal slits in its wall for IOO the inlet of the water and adapted to be sunk in the water-bearing strata or source B, as shown.

C is the compressed-air supply-pipe, having communication through a valved connection C with any compressed-air supply and adapted in length to extend longitudinally within the well-tube, as shown, with the outlet cat its lower end for the discharge of air into the water-column within said well-tube. The upper end of the sectional casing above the groundsurface has the lateral discharge-spout A2 or water-outlet.

In carrying out myinvention I unite to the upper open end of the casing, substantially' as shown, an additional section or sections A3 of tubing similar to the sections of the welleasing and above the spout or outlet A2. I provide a suitable transversely-apertured plug D, preferably of metal, to close the upward end of the extension-section A3, and said plug is recessed to form a stuffing-box d, which has a gland d', said gland iixedly supporting a clamp-collar d2, substantially as shown. The pipeC is adapted to have longitudinal play in the apertured plug D and to be held rigidly in place therein by the clampcollar d2, the stuiing-box serving to hermetically close the plug-aperture when the pipe is adjusted in position. To the lower end ofthe pipe C, beyond the outlet c thereof, I ixedly unite a rigid connection C2, which may be constituted of a length of pipe screw-seated in a T, as indicated, which constitutes the airoutlet and is in turn screwed to the lower end of pipe C. The rigid extension C2 is adapted in length to reach through the lower part and intake of the well-tube, as shown, and upon the extremity of said extension I ixedly attach a screen or strainer D', which is adapted in diameter and contour to pass through the well-tube and to it loosely within the intake A and stand on its support, as shown in the open lower end ofsaid intake. By means of the extension-section A3, arranged as described, and provided with the plug D and its stuffing-box and clamp-collar, I not only provide an air-chamber beyond the discharge A2 of the well-tube, which operates, when the compressed air is initially injected into the watercolumn in said tube, to start or accelerate the flow of the well to secure an immediately available and a thereafter uninterrupted discharge of water at the outlet A2, but I also provide such air-chamber in a simple and economical construction and at the same time obtain a convenient and effective support for the air-pipe C and its attached parts, as set forth, and a support which permits an easy and quick adjustment of the air-pipe and its connections longitudinally within the tube A, and which sustains the extension C2 of the airpipe and its attached screen or strainer D within and independently of the intake A', while by the loosening of the collar cl2 and gland d the plug D may be unseated without rotating or otherwise disturbing the air-pipe and its connections, and said pipe and its connections may then be withdrawn from the well-tube without disturbance thereof, and may be in like manner replaced and reseated.

I am aware that the combination of an airchamber with the eduction-tube of a well is not novel, and I make no claim herein broadly to such combination, nor do I make claim herein to the combination, with the well-tube having an open-end intake, of ascreen or strainer adapted to tit loosely within said tube and intake and to lie within the open end of said intake, together `with a rigid support adapted in length to extend longitudinally through said tube and intake and having said screen or strainer xedly attached to its end within said intake and removably sustained in position'in said well-tube, as I have made these devices in combination the subjectmatter of claims in a separate application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 536,215, filed the 25th day of January, 1895; but I do herein make claim to the combination, with the well tube or casing and its described intake and discharge, and the air-pipe and its described rigid extension below its air-outlet, and the screen or strainer carried by said extension, as set forth, of the extension-section on the upward end of the well-casing and its apertured plug, stufng-box, gland, and the clampcollar carried thereby, wherein the said extension-section on the well-tube not only constitutes, in a simple and inexpensive manner, an air-chamber for said tube, but the described structure of said extension-section and its connected parts constitutes a convenient support -for the air-pipe and its connections, in the manner and with attainable functions hereinbefore specified, believing the same to be new.

In further carrying out my invention I provide the well-tube with avalved vent E, which taps the tube at a point immediately below the line of the natural water-level of the well within said tube, and I provide the air-pipe C with a valved vent-pipe E', which taps said pipe at the line of said natural water-level, and which extends through and adjustably therein longitudinally of the well-tube the wall of said tube. This may be accomplished by means of a longitudinal slot e in the tubewall, through which the pipe E extends, and a movable apertured-plate e', covering said slot and adjustably clamped to the tube-wall by bands e2, held by threaded bolts es, and through which plate said pipe passes, as shown in Fig. 2. When the operation of a well in which the water naturally rises in the casing to or near the ground-surface by means of compressed air is temporarily suspended for any cause during cold weather and the water in the casing stands at its said natural level, it is evident that by means of the valved vents E and E', arranged as set forth, a flow of the water from the well-casing and from the air- IOO IIO

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pipe into which it rises to said natural level when the air-pressure is cut oit may be maintained, so that the Water will be prevented from oongealing in said casing and air-pipe, While at the same time, owing to the described adjustability ofthe vent-pipe E in its passage through the Wall of the Welltube, the presence of the said vent-pipe in the apparatus will not interfere with the herein-described `functional arrangement and movements of the air-pipe and its connections. The vent-pipe 4" may be screw-seated in the air-pipe Wall and tted snugly in the aperture in the plate, through which it passes to the exterior of the well-tube, so that When it is desired to With-` draw 'the air-pipe and its connections from the Well-tube the said pipe E may be readily unseated and the aperture in the plate e temporarily closed by a suitable plug, if desired.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a compressed-air Water-elevating apparatus, the oo mbination with the Well-tube or easing and its intake and discharge-outlet, and the compressed-air supply-pipe havinga rigid extension below its outlet in the easing, adapted in length to extend to the open lower end of said intake and having' asoreen or strainer, adapted to lit loosely Within said easing and its intake and to stand Within the said open end of said intake, attached to the extremity of said rigid extension, of an extension-seotion of said Well-tubing mounted on and oomm u nieating With the discharge-end of said oasing above the outlet therefrom, an apertured plug in the upward end of said extension-seetion in which said air-pipe has longitudinal play, a stuffing-box on said plug and a clampeollar on the gland of said box adapted to engage said air-pipe; substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. ln a compressed-air Water-elevating ap- 

